Written by Sydney Banks

The rays of the October sun cast a soft, golden glow across the farm, warming the soil and illuminating every shade of leafy lettuce and kale green stretching through the rows. Nearby, children tumble about after a long day at school, unleashing the energy that has been bubbling inside them for hours. Their laughter blends with the hum of bees and insects, creating an easy harmony across the landscape. In many ways, the youthful energy mirrors the growth and vitality of the plants, pollinators, and people who make this land functional, thriving, and truly alive.

Nestled in the heart of Alton Park in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is the Bethlehem Center, known affectionately as “The Beth.” A 105-year-old community-based education and resource access organization, its quarter-acre urban farm serves as one of its most vibrant programs, a small yet powerful plot dedicated to improving food access for individuals who live nearby. 

“Here in Alton Park, we have limited access to healthy foods. That’s where the Bethlehem Center is really trying to step in and make sure that we’re a source of groceries for folks, but you see it all over the city. For us, having a source of fresh, nutritious food, and shelf-stable items right here in the community where folks can walk in, bike in, or take the bus with a little more ease, can take some of the burden off and also the cost barrier for people who may need groceries,” said Lillian Moore, the Bethlehem Center’s director of community impact.

Farm coordinator Damon Bartos sees these realities unfold every day, in simple yet meaningful interactions. “I’ve had some people who have come just for one instance to get a salad for lunch. I know that, by growing food in an environment where food is not necessarily meant to be grown, I’m giving people access to food, and they’re very thankful for it,” he said.

Like many urban farms, The Beth relies on regenerative practices to keep production organic and protect soil health. Yet the farm’s relationship with nature extends far beyond sustainable soil practices. Pollinators are vital to the farm’s ability to produce food, and without them, The Beth’s mission to reduce food insecurity simply wouldn’t be possible.

“We wouldn’t have probably half the produce that we grow here without our honeybees. The honeybees are out every single morning at eight o’clock, pollinating tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, and we wouldn’t have any of that produce if it weren’t for them. They are the most crucial part of the farm. I do a lot of the manual labor, but if I set all of these plants up and we don’t have bees, we’re not getting fruit.” Bartos said.

According to Washington State entomologists, honeybee colony losses could reach 60 to 70 percent in 2025, the highest losses on record. Honeybees and other pollinators may be small, but losing them would be devastating for ecosystems, both locally in Chattanooga and nationally. Though the disappearance of these insects is a large and looming threat, Moore suggests that many simple steps can yield necessary results. 

“Give up a piece of your yard. Just plant some flowers at your house and have a space for the pollinators that live naturally in our area to have a place to eat.” Moore said. “We can ship bees across the country all day long, but having a really healthy ecosystem in your neighborhood is huge for local ag and huge for healthy food systems, which then supports food security.” 

While the future of pollinators continues to hang in the balance, the Bethlehem Center is committed to spreading awareness and cultivating environmental stewardship in the younger generation. Their Read to Lead after-school program gives local children opportunities to explore clubs, fine arts, and hands-on learning experiences. In the Garden Club, many of the children get a taste of what it’s like to be active in their environment and witness how nature and nurture interact. 

“We try to make it [Garden Club] a mix of things. It’s biology, it’s ecosystem ecology, it’s nutrition. They get to see the whole process from start to finish. They’re taking something from a seed, they’re putting it in the dirt, they’re watering it, nurturing it, and growing it,” Moore said. 

Students also help tend to the 15,000 honeybees that the farm hosts, simultaneously caring for the insects and reaping educational benefits by learning about the pollinators that keep the world thriving. “We got the bees two years ago, and we’re trying to incorporate the students as much as we can into the process. During the winter months, they give them sugar water. They also put on their little bee suits with Damon and tend to the hive,” Moore said.

The work of pollinator protection and fighting food insecurity is an ongoing battle, but The Beth’s steady presence and community-centered effort show the true impact that a modest quarter-acre can make. The center knows the battle is far from over, which is why they continue building toward future goals. 

“It’s really important to us to have safe, organic practices and to be serving food for both the food pantry, for our kiddos, and just for people who are walking in off the street, looking for greens or apples or whatever the case may be. We’d love to grow as much as we can to continue selling to more restaurants and ultimately to be like a long-term source of education and healthy food in the community,” Moore said.

By creating a vibrant ecosystem for pollinators to thrive, the Bethlehem Center plants more than just produce in the Chattanooga community. A sense of hope pushes the center to enhance its trusted legacy amidst environmental and hunger crises as it continues to nourish Alton Park for years to come.

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Buzzing for Knowledge

Written by Addison Middleton

Tucked in the corner of the second floor at the Creative Discovery Museum in the heart of Downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee lives a room that buzzes with energy. Buzz Alley is a cozy, colorful, and interactive display of the importance of bee education and preservation in a child’s own backyard. This corner dedicates itself to showing learning embedded in fun and leaves families with an appreciation and dedication to helping the smallest workers in our city, bees. 

Buzz Alley opened its doors in the Summer of 2011 and continues to be a beloved addition for the museum’s visitors. The moment a child walks into Buzz Alley, they are shrunk down into a bee-sized world with large interactive flowers around them and a kid-sized hive where they can crawl into pockets to reenact the lives of a real honey bee. Costumes hang on the walls where children can take their pick of becoming a worker, drone, or queen bee and take on the roles that each one of these has in protecting the hive. 

Mackenzie Steele serves as the Creative Discovery Museum’s Director of Marketing and Communications and has seen the love that Buzz Alley has brought to the kids and families who enjoy the exhibit. 

“Sometimes the kids will run around the museum in the bee costumes and we’ll say ‘hey, I know where that came from’”, said Mackenzie Steele. 

Interactive games can also be found throughout Buzz Alley, where children play pollination games matching each bee to their correct flower, and a moving magnet wall where you use bee pictured handles to the printed boxes to represent bees bringing pollen back to their hive. In a recent museum-wide renovation, Buzz Alley also got a new addition, adding bilingual Spanish and English text to all of its displays to allow more kids to be immersed in bee knowledge. 

One of the core spots you can find kids as they explore through the exhibit is kneeling down and looking through a magnifying glass to get an inside look at an active honeycomb. Children sit wide eyed and grinning as they point to each tiny worker and learn the importance bees have to growing a real hive and collecting pollen for honey. Volunteer beekeepers come to the museum to continue the uptake of the hive to ensure the health of the bees and their home stay growing and strong.

The Creative Discovery Museum also highlights Buzz Alley by celebrating National Pollinator Week in July every year. A week full of bee facts, honey tastings, and interactive crafts and shows is just another way the museum connects exploration, creativity, and learning for every family that walks through their doors. 

This exhibit doesn’t just entertain, it leaves children with an appreciation for the bee community and an awareness to appreciate and protect the pollinators we have in our own backyards. Buzz Alley sends families back into Chattanooga buzzing with new feelings of curiosity, responsibility, and wonder for the bees that keep the city blooming.

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Meet the Storytellers